Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Forget the Dog and Duck v the Red Lion.. let’s raise our glasses because the English El Clasico is BACK!
IT was six years ago that Gary Neville savagely caricatured the decline of English football’s two most successful clubs.
Manchester United playing Liverpool these days, he said, is like the Dog and Duck versus the Red Lion. And the fact it made hackles rise at either end of the M62 proved his overstated analogy wasn’t without merit.
The constant over-hyping of this fixture as one of the bi g ge st on ear th led to justified cynicism, because you had to go back to 2009 to find the last time both clubs were fighting each other for the title.
But it is still the game the countr y ’s two l argest f an bases most hate to lose and, on Sunday, as the champions host the league leaders, and there is talk again about rivals being knocked off perches, the hype may y be justified . It’s a massive game for both clubs.
Aft er Tu e sd ay ’s win at Burnley, United d manager Ole Gunnar nar Solskjaer (above) could be forgiven for allowing himself a gloat at his critics who, until recently, claimed he was out of his depth. The statistics begged to differ.
A year ago this weekend,
Jurgen Klopp’s men beat United at Anfield to open a 30point gap on them with a game in hand. Slowly, and impressively, Solskjaer has managed a 33-point swing in his direction.
B But he knows that th the hard work starts now. If he loses at Anfield and fails to return to the top t this season, the accu cusations that h e wilt wilts when the pressure is on will persist.
His four semi-final defeats in the past year, plus blowing thi s season’s Champions League group when everyone thought United were through, will feed those critics who say he can’t win the biggest games. With an away record of seven wins out of eight, Solskjaer will be confident of stifling the home attack and hitting them on the counter. He will believe, due to critical injuries in Liverpool’s defence, that his fast, skilful strikers give him the best chance yet of beating Klopp (right).
In truth, a draw which maintains a three-point lead and damages Liverpool’s chances of equalling United’s 20 titles will keep his fans happy. They’re not expecting a serious title challenge yet.
After Liverpool’s recent slump in form, though, Kop fans will be unhappy with anything less than a win. With the chasing pack closing in, more dropped points could see Liverpool evicted from the top four. It would raise fears that they are in for another dismal Januar y, like 2017, which saw their season inexplicably fall apart, and it would focus anger on the owners for not bringing in the replacement central defender they have been crying out for or since Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were sidelined months ago.
To be fair to the makeshift defence, Liverpool dropping seven out of their last nine points hasn’t been down to them. It’s been more to do with the wastefulness of the much-lauded attack.
A total of one goal against West Brom, Newcastle and Southampton is dire. Indeed it could be argued that the injury to free-scoring Diogo Jota has so far proved more costly than the one to defensive linchpin Van Dijk.
There have been other problems. Trent AlexanderArnold is having a serious dip in form and the killer ball from midfield hasn’t been there. It’s why Sunday could be the game that Thiago was bought for. If he is back to full fitness and gets on the wavelength of that front three, then he will have a memorable Anfield debut and United’s defence will have a tough day.
That last top-of-the-table clash in 2009 ended in a 4-1 win for Liverpool at Old Trafford. The way this mad season has gone you wouldn’t be surprised if either Liverpool repeated that scoreline or United pulled off a similar victory.
It ’s s a fe t o s ay, tho though, that this feverish, history-soaked fixture once again feels more like England’s El Clasico than a pub-team kick-about.
What a shame there will be no fans there to share and enhance the tribal spectacle.